storm damage....

A tidying-up day after the recent storms. A strip of felt has been ripped from the shed roof, a couple of fence panels are down and there are twigs all over the garden, not to mention plastic pots here, there and everywhere. Got most of it sorted except for the shed roof then potted up some strawberry runners. I’ll probably give the plants away as we don’t really need any more. It's funny, but I can't bring myself to compost or destroy the blooming things. I think if the plant has gone to trouble of reproducing itself it deserves a chance. But then I'm probably mad!!

Lunch was a special treat - fish and chips in Silloth which is about fifteen miles round the coast but well worth the drive.

Daytime temperatures in the greenhouse are getting up into double figures now and there are no frosts forecast for the next few days so I risked sowing some broad beans (Sutton) and peas (early onward) in containers. They’ll stay under glass until the Spring is well under way.

Last October I sowed some AYR lettuce which germinated and then just sat in the greenhouse doing nothing during the cold weather. It has now sprung into life so I pricked out some of the seedlings into individual pots about a week ago and they are now looking quite healthy.

 I don’t sow a lot of lettuce because it’s so easy to end up wasting most of it. Far too often have I seen rows of bolted lettuce in allotments and gardens because people sow masses of the stuff and only eat a couple of heads. In my veg. plot it forms part of the block planted areas and that means there are rarely more than four or five plants ready at any one time. If there is ever any surplus it goes to a neighbour’s hens in exchange for fresh, free-range eggs.